Abstract

The Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports has requested the RIVM to prepare a plan for a new approach on monitoring the lifestyle of the Dutch population. Cooperation was to be sought with 'LOT-i', the National Platform of Thematic Institutes in the lifestyle area and a few related institutions. The main objectives were: improving efficiency, quality and coordination.

Firstly, an inventory was made of the current data collection efforts in the area of health-related lifestyle, as well as of the data needs of various stakeholders. This applies to the national level as well as to the level of local communities and of international institutions collecting health-related data. Intensive discussions were organized with and between all the involved institutions, in bilateral as well as plenary meetings. These have resulted in a scheme for the subsequent stepwise development towards a new and coherent system for monitoring the components of lifestyle relevant to health.

The basis of this scheme is the distinction between a limited set of core data that we want to collect annually, on the one hand, and modules for more detailed investigation, which are to be carried out less frequently, on the other. For the annual core set the main issue is that these variables need accurate and timely trends. The detailed modules should enable the explanation and analysis of observed trends and relationships with underlying variables.

Currently, it seems a likely option that the annual core set can be included in the Health Interview Survey that is currently carried out continuously by Statistics Netherlands and overlapping with international requirements as for the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS). For the practical implementation of the other components of this integrated 'Lifestyle monitor' (LSM) several alternatives are presented. The current partly separate approach to monitoring lifestyle in children, especially in teenagers, will be maintained. In all options the perspective is that this coherent monitoring system is to be developed further and to be implemented and sustainably maintained by a consortium of the institutions involved.

The intended efficiency gain is to be provided by combining monitoring instruments, reducing redundancies, and lowering the frequency of some of the detailed investigations. The gain in quality rests in the improved coordination, in combination with innovations.

The plan includes a detailed perspective on desirable follow-up activities. These include the formal establishment of a Consortium, the detailed definition of questionnaires and investigations within the agreed general scheme, and the preparations for the actual implementation of the new Lifestyle Monitoring System for the Netherlands.